Chapter Eight: We're Going Camping Now

"I guess it's late enough to head on over and set up camp," MacGyver remarked as he pulled into the driveway. "We can always do some more work on the fort if no one's hungry yet."

"I'm hungry, Mr Mac!" Dylan declared.

MacGyver grinned and tweaked his ear. "Growin' boys like you are always hungry. Bring those sleeping bags over to my jeep, an' I'll turn 'em into backpacks for ya."

Wonderingly, the kids did as he asked, watching in fascination as he folded the bags, fastening the sides with strips of duct tape. He fashioned straps for them, checking the fit for each of them.

"Derrick, how about you and Cindy get the groceries from the station wagon?" he suggested, pulling his own backpack and bedroll from the back of the jeep and looking inside to see what it still held. "Just don't drop anything."

Derrick and Cindy ran off still wearing their improvised backpacks, and soon returned lugging the bags of groceries. MacGyver quickly parceled the items out among the backpacks, taking the heaviest ones himself.

"We could make two trips," Cindy suggested, watching as he tried to decide where to put the last two articles.

"Nope, that's cheatin'. If we were hikin' ten miles into the wilderness, you wouldn't wanna be makin' two trips."

Dylan giggled. "But we're not going ten miles into the wilderness, Mr Mac; we're just going to our fort!"

MacGyver shrugged and pulled on his backpack. "Thought you liked pretending."

"We do!" Cindy cried. "Let's make it a hundred miles, Mr Mac!"

"Then we definitely don't want to make two trips." About to close the door of the jeep, he spotted a black case lying on the floor under the seats. "Hey…forgot that was in there…why not?" Pulling it out, he slammed the door shut and turned to the kids. "Everybody set?"

"Yeah!"

"You shut the station wagon?" he added, turning to Cindy.

"Of course!"

"Then let's go!"

"Let's hike all around the house and through the woods first to make it seem long," Cindy proposed.

"Yeah, an' we don't have any maps or anything, so we have to find our own way," Derrick added.

"But I don't want to get lost!" Cassie protested.

"We won't," MacGyver assured her. "I know how to find my way without maps or trails."

"Anyway, Cass, it's just pretend," Cindy reminded her. "We couldn't get lost in our woods for real."

"Well, she could," Derrick muttered.

"I could not!" Cassie insisted. "I was just pretending that time, too!"

"Uh-huh."

"Let's all stick together, an' then no one will get lost for real," MacGyver interjected as they rounded the house and started toward the woods.

"But pretend, we all do, an' that's why we stop by the stream and set up camp," Dylan suggested.

The woods was more tangled than their well-worn path. MacGyver pushed back a briar, then stepped on another so Cassie could get through, grateful that he was wearing long sleeves. But even Cassie seemed not to mind the occasional scratch, and he reflected that despite being so hesitant about this trip, she must be pretty tough to keep up with her siblings.

"Here we are!" Cindy cried, dropping the game and running forward after about half an hour of walking through the woods.

"First thing is to build a fire," MacGyver commented, shrugging out of his backpack and leaning it against a tree. "You kids want to look for wood while I build a fireplace?"

"I'm staying with you," Cassie declared.

"Aw, Cass, don't be silly!" Cindy protested. "You've been here lots later than this an' not been scared!"

"I'm not scared; I just want to stay with Mr Mac."

"It's all right; I could use the help," MacGyver said, smiling at the little girl. "You others, take off your backpacks and go find me some dry branches — off the ground, Dylan," he added.

Dylan grinned. "Don't worry; I know not to climb dead trees."

"Good. Cassie and I should have the fireplace ready by the time you get back."

Large stones were plentiful by the creek, and he let Cassie "help" him carry them to the place he had chosen for the fire. * There, they arranged them in a large ring.

When the older children returned with their dry branches, MacGyver carefully stacked them in the center of the ring.

"Can I light it?" Cindy asked eagerly as he pulled a book of matches out of his pocket.

"Sure," he agreed, handing her a match. "Strike it on the stone." *

"Ma gets the kind you have to strike on the box," Dylan remarked.

"These are handier when I need fire in a hurry," MacGyver commented. "Careful there, Cindy…now put it in the center of the wood."

"I never used matches before," Cindy admitted; "Ma won't let us."

"Can I try?" Dylan begged.

"Ya can each light one if ya want," MacGyver agreed; it would hardly have been fair to let Cindy and not the others. "But only because I'm here watching," he added; "I don't suppose I have to warn you never to play with matches or fire."

"Yeah, we know," Derrick assured him.

"Want to light one?" MacGyver asked Cassie when Dylan and Derrick had each lit a match and tossed it into the fire.

Cassie shook her head, but she was staring longingly at the matchbook he still held, and he smiled and pulled one out. "Here, I'll help ya…just don't swing your hair around."

With MacGyver's hand over hers, Cassie struck her match, tossing it into the fire with a squeal when the flame seemed to be coming too close. "It burned me!"

MacGyver gave her fingers a cursory check, knowing she hadn't come near being burned. "You're fine," he told her; without sympathy she quickly forgot the imagined injury. "Now, that has to burn for a while before we can cook supper; is there anything more ya want to do on the fort?"

The kids ran toward the fort with shouts of agreement, and MacGyver grinned and followed them.

Next chapter coming next week!

* Illustration for this scene can be found at

www . deviantart . com [slash] femalechauvinist [slash] art [slash] Rock-Collection-880699435

www . deviantart . com [slash] femalechauvinist [slash] art [slash] Firelit-880699547

I proofread all my stories at least once before posting, but if you see any mistakes I might have missed, please let me know!

Please note that I have only minimal internet access, and may not have time to respond to all reviews/messages. (But they are much appreciated, even if you're reading this story long after I originally post it!) If you have questions regarding my MacGyver alternate history, check my profile first to see if they're answered there. Thanks for your understanding! Barbie